On August 9, around 6am, heavily armed men arrived at the Muthaiga home of businessman Jimi Wanjigi.
The men were armed with what appeared to be sophisticated weapons and donned police gear similar to that of officers in elite units. The helmets on their heads were fitted with what appeared to be cameras.
The previous night, detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), backed by contingents from the Administration Police and regular police, had spent close to eight hours at the home of the businessman after police claimed that he was in possession of tear gas and what appeared to be police pocket phones.
Wanjigi’s family filmed as the hooded men arrived at their homestead and broke doors. In a viral video, a family member is heard pleading with these men not to shot them.
Lawyer Willis Otieno said this second group of men who raided the home were about 200 and wore balaclavas. He told a Nairobi court that the men stole money and personal items, including Wanjigi’s mother’s wallet and a watch.
Prior to the arrival of these men, a search had been conducted at the same home by security agents who carted away iPhones, iPads and three flags.
On August 13, around 11pm, in Mathioya, another group of heavily armed men stormed into the homestead of former MCA Joseph Machiri. In almost a similar fashion as the Wanjigi house raid, the men were hooded and armed with sophisticated weapons.
Machiri is the father to the Equity Bank manager linked to the disappearance of Sh1.5 billion from the lender’s account.
The raid was also caught on camera. CCTV footage released by the family revealed that the men who abducted the ex-politician had their faces covered and were armed with guns.
These gunmen, who were over 10 in number, the family said, switched off power after which they forced him into a car and took off.
The missing man’s wife, Nancy Wambui, told the media that hours before the night raid, the couple had spent their day in church.
Hours before the senior Machiri was taken away by the unknown gunmen, his son David Machiri had been abducted by another group of hooded men at his house in Thogoto, Kiambu County.
Lawyer Ndegwa Njiru, who spoke to the Nation on the day the banker went missing, said armed men stormed the Thogoto home.
At the time, Machiri was alone in the house. Other family members were in church when he was picked up, Mr Njiru said.
The armed men are said to have knocked on the gates around 11am and left with the banker in a convoy of vehicles.
The uniform worn by the two groups of armed men in the two incidents are similar. The modus operadi appears to be the same.
These men, according to highly placed sources, are elite officers from the National Intelligence Service NIS.
They are officers from the Special Operations Group, who are trained to deal with hostile situations such as hostage rescue and counter terrorism.
Executive Director for Amnesty International Kenya Irungu Houghton criticised the decision by the government to deploy officers from the NIS elite squad to do police work.
“The continued deployment of special operations units with masked officers carrying military grade weapons to perform routine policing functions offends our laws and remains highly disturbing to the public .
“Despite national and international condemnation, on Monday, 19 August, Kajiado residents and active protest organisers Bob Njagi, brothers Jamil and Aslam Longton were physically assaulted and abducted in broad daylight by masked men in private cars.
“Amnesty International Kenya is deeply concerned by their enforced disappearances and demands their release or production in a court of law as the constitution demands,” Mr Irungu said.
Independent Medico Legal Unit Executive Director Wangechi Kahuria also castigated the government over this trend.
“The law is clear that police officers must be identifiable and in full police uniform. The deployment of other people disguised as police officers must stop. All officers must be identifiable for accountability purposes,” she said.
DCI boss Mohammed Amin, who was at a consultative meeting with the Kenya Editors Guild in Nairobi, denied claims his men were behind the string of abductions conducted by hooded men.
At the height of the protests calling for better governance, a special team comprising of officers from the NIS and DCI came under scrutiny over a string of abductions targeting social media influencers and individuals with massive following on social media.
At the time, a highly placed source told the Nation that this covert team was crafted following a high level security meeting in Nairobi called to brainstorm on ways of dealing with the protests.
This special team is led by a former DCI operative. Also in this team are selected individuals from the DCI Operation Action team based at the DCI headquarters, working together with the NIS officers
Also in the squad are IT experts from the NIS who have been monitoring the social media accounts of people believed to be influential or have mass following.
Once the IT team at Ruaraka has identified an influencer and monitors his social media accounts, it forwards the details to this new squad.
It is then that this squad, which has been operating discretely from DCI headquarters, swings into action and starts trailing the individuals.
To make sure that their activities are camouflaged, the squad has incorporated officers from other well-trained units such as the anti-terror police, and uses unmarked cars.
